One of our Best Home Purchases! Our New Door Knobs- Automatic Locks

October 23, 2018

I wasn’t going to do a full blog post on our new automatic locks, but we love them so much they needed a little post! I think there is a stigma around automatic door locks- that they are ugly. There I said it. I have thought that too. I actually didn’t want to put the automatic lock on our front door because everyone would see that door the most! But after I found the locks we went with it didn’t matter where they went- they look awesome! Automatic locks are now one thing I would say is one of our best home purchases. I know many of you would agree with that statement!

There it is! I actually think it looks better than what we had because it is matte black. We had a brushed nickel door knob and lock before that was a similar style but brushed nickel really didn’t match anything in our home or exterior. I had picked it two years ago when we had a brushed nickel light fixture by the door but have since changed that and honestly it was a quick decision that wasn’t really us. I like mixing metals but I do think you should ONE MAIN METAL that is the dominate metal throughout your home. For us we changed all our door knobs on the interior to black and then we accent with gold and some copper.

PS- Just added THIS new basket to our door! I put a plastic jar in the bottom filled with water for some fresh clippings from our yard.

Many of you had good feedback and ideas when I asked about automatic locks. I had showed that I was going to order a certain lock where the numbers were flush with the key pad and one of you mentioned that over time you would be able to see the wear on the code numbers. Such a good point! So we went with the raised key pad.

Favorite thing is that the kids can easily get in and out of the house. And not to mention that we actually lock our door now! Yikes! Our front door used to be the type that you had to use a key to lock it from the outside, which doesn’t seem that “hard” but when your hands are full of bags, your drink and watching a two year old then you sometimes skip pulling out the key to lock the door. Or I would ALWAYS have to run back in the house because I forgot something and unlocking the door just took time. I know, first world problems. But just another reason I think the automatic locks were one of our best purchases. Not to mention the many times we have been locked out of our home. Also no more carrying a key when we go on walks or bike rides (which is daily).

I asked my friend Annie, from Most Lovely Things what her door knobs were, even though they aren’t automatic I liked the style. She has EMTEK hardware. So I looked on their website and that is what we ended up going with. I LOVED the black matte finish and the square door knob for the back of the door. (I link it all at the end)

We did a similar door locks for the back door. I was so glad I was able to message a representative with EMTEK because they told me that there was an adaptor for thin doors. Which is what we have on our back door. It is thinner than the average door (original to the 1950’s home).

The front of the back door has the simple square knob that is just a dummy knob. The top is what locks. We can also enter in two unique codes.

To summarize what we learned about Door Knobs and Keyless Entry Locks-

Look for a raised key pad

There are options for thinner doors- just get an adaptor

If you have a deadbolt lock you only need a dummy or passage way door knob

Go with a finish that is dominate throughout your home

They make it easy to actually LOCK your doors and never get locked out!

Comments

Love your cozy home so much! Truly, it is my favorite in all blogland.
Great timing as we are changing out all our door hardware! Question-do your hinges need to match the knobs? We have silver hinges but I’m really wanting to do black knobs/handles but we are definitely not interested in changing all the hinges 😬.

oh good question!! on our back door you might notice we painted over the hinges white.
On our front door they are brushed nickel. It doesn’t bother me. But if you are are selling new I would have them match!
Or you could always try rub n buff- but my experience with the black was not the best.

Love your pink doors and the basket on the front is so cute. My car use to have this type of lock. This was before automatic key bob was invented. LOL Like the black too – you always find the neatest stuff. Love reading about your family and watching your children grow.

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Welcome

I have always loved Nesting. It became more rewarding when I started preparing the nest for my Ella Grace, Lola Faith and Finn. I design around things that have a story and mix in funky trendy pieces. I am a Utah native, Connecticut transplant with 18 years experience at a design firm in Utah in designing, managing and as head store buyer. I love Kevin, Ella and Lola, to get my heart rate up in any sort of group setting, eating simple and clean or just give me a sweet potato and I am happy.
Contact me about working together[email protected].